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Sabah Wildlife Department via AFP - Getty Images
A baby pygmy elephant stands beside a dead adult in the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Malaysia's Sabah state.
Ten endangered pygmy elephants have been found dead in suspicious circumstances in Malaysia, according to reports.
Sen Nathan, head veterinarian at the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Sabah state on the island of Borneo, said officials "highly suspect" the animals were poisoned, but tests are still to be carried out to determine whether they were deliberately harmed, BBC News reported.
"It was actually a very sad sight to see all those dead elephants, especially one of the dead females who had a very young calf of about three months old. The calf was trying to wake the dead mother up," he said, according to the BBC.
Nathan added the elephants, aged between four and 20, were believed to be from the same family group.
Malaysia’s The Star newspaper said the first elephant died on Dec. 29 and the last was found on Jan. 24.
The paper reported that the dead animals were found in an area that it described as an “industrial tree plantation.”
The Star said it was not known how the elephants had died, and noted it was possible they had eaten poisonous plants or pesticides.
The BBC cited Masidi Manjun, environmental minister for the Sabah area, as saying it was “a sad day for conservation and Sabah.”
Sabah Wildlife Department via Reuters
Malaysia's wildlife officials inspect a dead pygmy elephant.
Conservation charity WWF runs an “adopt a pygmy elephant” campaign.
According to its website, the animals are found “only on the northeast tip of the island of Borneo, and inhabit forests near water sources and grasslands. “
“Borneo pygmy elephants are smaller than other Asian elephants, chubbier, and have bigger ears and tails,” it said. “They eat roughly 300 pounds of food daily—mostly roots, grasses, leaves, bananas and sugar cane.”
WWF estimates that there are possibly as low as 1,600 individuals in the wild.
“The top threats to pygmy elephants are habitat loss and conflict with humans,” it added.
Related:
Orphaned elephants find sanctuary in Kenya amid rampant poaching
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We are going to completely wreck this planet. I am afraid however that no serious action, even remedial, will occur until the tipping point is long past. At that point we will witness the die off of our species.
Nah, we got time before the collapse. Lets keep pushing it. (sarc)
Our planet is a lost cause sadly. People are more worried about assault rifles and getting their daily quota of fast food. That picture is so sad, especially considering how intelligent elephants are.
How sad. Seeing the baby elephant trying to wake up mom is also so sad.
We need to think inside "&" outside the box on our theories on how they were poisoned.
This is Malaysia which has Rainforest's and other Forrest areas that have not been totally checked out yet. We are discovering more insects and plants that we didn't even know about not to mention medicinal plants that could one day cure many diseases.
Unfortunately, with De-Forestation, we are losing many of these opportunities.
That said, these Pygmy Elephants are possibly being pushed out of their natural habitat and possibly eating plants that could be poisonous unannounced to them. This may also help us understand why the Baby Elephant is still alive since it's still drinking Mom's milk.
If they did indeed ingest poisonous plants, then they probably died quickly considering the Mom Elephant did not have time to process the poison within her body in time to pass it onto her milk which would have affected the Baby also.
Just an observation on my part. I hope they figure it out and prevent it from ever happening again.
Bottom line is, no matter what the outcome of their death is, either or,..... it's caused by mankind.
The planet will be doing just fine, spinning around the sun, long after the human race is extinct.
If somebody did this on purpose and this person is found I hope they tie a limp to 4 different elephants and throw a mouse in the middle.
Will it? What makes you so sure? The planet will be long after we're gone. That's a fact. I'm not so sure how fine it will be though. Maybe after it's had a 100,000 years or so to wash away the human imprint. I just have little faith in humanity any more if you can't tell.
GM Bill...
Jeffor,
It's just sarcasm. You said our "Planet" which he was referring to but we all know you meant we humans on this planet. It's all good. There was no pun.
Sure DenverBill. And the food you eat isn't poisoning you either, right? just keep sticking your head in the sand buddy.
*correction* We are going to completely wreck this planet.
We HAVE completely wrecked this planet.
Those that have the $$$ and the influence to change it are too busy in their counting houses to help reverse the damage.
We live in a sick world.
Hope-295312... A Coelho quote:
"How can we be so arrogant? The planet is, was, and always will be stronger than us.
We can't destroy it; if we overstep the mark, the planet will simply erase us from its surface and carry on existing.
Why don't they start talking about not letting the planet destroy us?
Because "Saving the planet" gives a sense of power, action and nobility.
Whereas "not letting the planet destroy us" might lead us to feelings of despair and impotence, and to a realisation of just how very limited our capabilities are.
Let’s be humble. Let’s respect Mother Earth because if She becomes furious with our behavior, we are in trouble." Paulo Coelho
And one from George Carlin: "If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little." George Carlin
If we cause our own self-extinction, then that's a sad story. The fact that we're taking so many plant and animal species down with us is the real tragedy.
gm Creek Dog
I'm guessing I eat more fresh fruits and vegetables that I plant, more fresh fish that I catch and more fresh meat that I shoot and dress than you do. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Somehow I suspect this was not accidental poisoning.
As a youth I wondered what the world was like prior to the great flood because one would think it had to be extremely foul in order for our Creator to finally decide enough is enough. I do not need to dig into my imagination any more to get a picture of what it was like.
Must have been updated since I read it. That said, it sounds like pesticides to protect the trees may have killed them or, you may be correct as in, they were pissed that the Elephants were eating their profits which means, somebodies going down and hard!
Are you a human?!
I'm sure it is not. The overpopulating humans do not want to share with animals who where there before them.
Morning CD
With them eating “They eat roughly 300 pounds of food daily—mostly roots, grasses, leaves, bananas and sugar cane.” I could see the farmers wanting to get rid of them at any cost, and not wanting to put the time and money into relocating them.
If ever the charge of murder applied outside of human, this would be it..
I'm starting to believe the world will be a better place once we humans kill each other off. I think we are a lost cause. We can't get over killing each other and our need to destroy the planet for our own greed. Some people feel they must have enough money to live 100,000,000 lifetimes while a family a block away starve. Speaking of how intelligent elephants are, they are the only creatures on Earth besides us that visit the grave sites of their ancestors. Somehow, they communicate this information to their offspring.
Of course it's all conjecture as to what type of poisoning killed the elephants. What some elephant conservatories do to help protect "their" elephants is to have elephant watching tours, where small groups are carted into the elephants feeding and watering areas, are allowed to quietly watch and photograph them and then leave them as they were.
These pygmy elephants sound like they could stand to have better monitoring and such a program might help them. There is little risk to the elephant and it provides an economic boost for the conservation group and it gives notice to anyone who might want to harm the elephants that they are being watched and any attempt to harm them might be seen and stopped.
I have seem documentaries about these fascinating "little" elephants and hope something can be done to save the remaining group. They are the only ones of their kind and it would be a shame to lose them due to either deliberate poisoning or inadvertent introduction of a harmful substance into their environment.
All you guys are right, we live in a mad world. To think for the longest time, it was us that needed earth's help to solve our problems. But now with pullution, gobal warming, and such the earth is almost crying in pain for us to save itand for us to help it. All the problems the earth is facing we've created, it's affecting the world, ice caps, and now elephants and sooner or later it'll affect us too. Maybe then we'll listen.
Are we deaf to hear Earth's cries, or do we just not bother to listen, sometimes I wonder. People are always telling me that'll be okay, to be responsible, and be the best 13 year old I can be- but how can they lie and say that everything is going to be okay when there is global warming, how can they talk about being responsible when there is litter on the ground, how can they tell me to be the best that I can be when so little are out there trying to put the world together again?
We can't stop global warming, we can't repair all the cuts that have already happened, but we can stop it from getting worse than it is. People dont seem to get this very well, but WE ARE THE FUTURE- the world needs are help to make it a better place, and I believe with all my heart, that we could bring the world back together again if we all joined hands and tried.
Just trying makes a difference, just trying.
Agreed Hope, unfortunately at the end of each day, all we collectively see is what wonderful things we can create or accumulate and seem to forget about the destruction we bring in order to do these things. I will reserve my judgement on this particular event until the toxicology reports come back but we have seen it too often in the last several years that our species does everything it can to profit and abuse the other creatures of the planet and ultimately it will end the same way every time, extinction.
I for one, have a small sliver of hope that at least the next generation will do their best to undo some of the damage that we have caused but over the last 100 years, we have set in motion a chain of events that will likely imbalance the entire system as we see now.
Got to love an optimist. But I look around at these selfish little bastards and can't help but think the world will die with a whimper, not a BOOM.
The only way the next generation can undo the damage is to not be born....or at least half as many. Almost all the environmental issues are related to the unchecked human population growth. The worst offenders are the countries where most these endangered animals live. When you have women in these third world countries have a average of 5-7 children how can any animal keep up. Instead of putting asking for aid for starving children should be asking for aid for birth control. The child you feed today will just breed another batch of children to beg for food.
Billo, agreed to a certain extent. Our world cannot reasonably support the number of people living now let alone the expected population boom that will continue unchecked for the next 50-100 years. At some point we will push things over the edge and the earth will be forced to respond to keep a balance and I am fairly certain that mankind along with all of the species that he has eradicated will join the same group.
I for one believe that the Native Americans had it right, as for all of their "Primitive Culture", they firmly adhered to a symbiotic relationship with nature and the land. Could we do the same and have the technology & advances that we do now? Absolutely, but that would require a level of discipline from all of mankind that has rarely existed as a collective and will likely never been seen. What a shame to ponder all that we have destroyed for new shopping malls, trinkets and long lost material wealth.
You are so right Billoo.i think in these third world countries the amount of kids they have goes alot higher. Then they come here and have 7-10. Americans, Europeans, Russians stopped doing that, they should too. Overpopulating and having many unplanned children leads to poverty and more poverty and bad conditions. (Look at Chicago). How Sad that picture is with the baby elephant!
As sad as it as a mother to see that baby trying to wake his mother up. This is a reality.
@ Unbelievable, how easy to sit and make that judgement. In most of these countries infant mortality is high, children die from treatable diseases like malaria. Maybe we should think before we wear cheap, stuff made in Indonesia, Vietnam by underage children working 12-14 hours in ungodly conditions. Maybe we ought to think when we buy thousands of dollars of diamonds from war torn countries.
Maybe we ought to think about paying $4.00 for a cup of starbucks while the woman who grew that coffee in Ethopia with her infant tied behind her back, made less than 3 cents.
so easy to judge and blame everything on others.
What about the millions of native americans who lives here and were totally decimated by Europeans and diseases they brought? And where did the millions fo Buffaloes and Wolves, and Bears that roamed the lower 48 go? We killed them right!!
What is needed is more stricter environmental laws.
More accountablity, not judgement.
Chris--I disagree--(on your sliver of hope)I have NO faith that the next generation will do SQUAT to fix or even SLOW the problems we face re: our Earth or its creatures, since it is patently obvious that CURRENT generations are totally selfish. The very fact that in countries around the world, the CURRENT inhabitants are PERFECTLY willing to 'mortgage the future' of their offspring by encouraging their governments to spend money they do not have, in order to keep handing out 'entitlements' that the current generation has not, and cannot, pay for themselves, dumping the debt incurred on their children/grandchildren ad infinitum has not set ANY kind of altruistic example that would lead us to believe that those same future inhabitants will have ANY desire to put aside THEIR wants for the good of a species or the planet.
Without those "ungodly" jobs they would not be able to sustain there lives. By having those jobs they can slowly move out from third world status just like is happening all over China and Indonesia. If we try harder to make these poor souls admire and respect the life of these great animals, and educate them that "they" are in fact the road to their own prosperity they will not do this stuff. If an animal "makes more money being alive", why kill them? The business of controlling this great resource of nature they have, which so many will PAY to see, is there only hope. However, in reality I have very little hope. Humans are the most destructive animals on this planet, shameful what monsters humans can be. I have little hope for our future in so many ways. Our childrens children are in for a hell of a lot of pain and misery.
I do not believe these animals ate poisoned plants unless they were given them mixed with something else. I am very sad and hope that someone can get to the bottom of this. Elephants, dogs , cat, cows whatever all feel pain. About the population I also agree we should give birth-control to humans instead of all the financial aide we give them. They are to overpopulated. Obviously there is to many people in the world with two little food. ---------------------------------------
Ariana--sadly, "More stricter environmental laws" will not do ANYTHING to improve the situation while no one tries to enforce them. If LAWS cured problems, MURDER would not exist.
The irony here is that MOST mammals will not keep having babies if there is not enough food for the whole 'herd' (or whatever group they exist in.) The females will not go into heat. Similarly, females in many species will not go in heat if they still have an infant that needs their undivided care. Too bad HUMANS don't live that way.
And in MOST species, 'survival of the species' dictates that only the strongest usually breed, where in human beings, you don't even need to be able to feed and protect YOURSELF to be able to get some woman pregnant.
The downfall of humanity can be easily predicted by the fact that the SMART, ambitious, hard working people tend to CONTROL their offspring, while the stupid, lazy or idle seem to breed at will, creating MORE stupid, lazy or idle. And to an small extent, it is NOT totally their fault--one of the problems with women having too many babies too close together, especially when she herself does not have enough nutritious food, is that the fetus does not get good enough nutrition in its formation, and is likely to have genetic problems.
@ JCB 12234.
8 year olds do not have to sew Nike shoes for 12 hours to have a booming economy. If you mean an economy based on the Wall street model, then yes.
People like native americans have sustained themselves for hundreds of years without a European model of Economy, which we all know now does not work, but for a select few. Just look at the bank bailouts and sub prime mortgages sham. As a Environmental Engineer I see everyday how we Humans destroy the earth without a thought, it boils down to a few more dollars in your profit margin. I agree people are the worst. As en Engineer I help design multi million dollar Water treatment plants in the US. That same model does not work in a developing country. We deisgn self sustaining, small treatment plants for a group of villages and its manageble and economical. What works for us does nto work for them.
If people are willing to pay thousands of dollars for a Rhini Horn, it breeds poaching.
If we could get $500,000 for a Deer antler, Half of our country would be out there with guns shooting away.
What in the hell are you talking about? "Wallstreet" what planet do you live on? Nobody buys a "Rhino Horn" in the west, that is an Asian thing, same with shark fins. "Booming economy", are friggin kidding me? Have you ever been to Indonesia?, or other third world areas like Mexico City or Cairo? Well I have, and you have zero idea what poverty really is, it is very far from what you can even comprehend. Open sewage, dogs and cats dead or starving laying in stagnant water, no clean water, and a smell you can not even begin to comprehend. You are ignorant of "real" poverty, America does not have poverty even close to what i have seen in my life. Go on over and start telling these third world cultures how they could or should be. Everyone in the third world starts from nothing, and a 12 hour job sewing sneakers beats starving to death. I am not for child labor anywhere, but you or I ain't stopping a damn thing. What is easy for you to see, is very far from this planets reality Ariana. Water treatment fine, but you ain't changing a thing in the third world, think "The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind", that is their only hope. You think everyone is like "us", with a broad vision, these people are worried about their next meal like your dog is, your not even close to living in reality.
@ JCB,
Not only have I travelled to developing countries, I have lived extensively in Nepal,Bhutan,Thailand and India.
Your attitude is like the British invaders, "These damn ethnic people know nothing, lets take all their gold, diamonds, Tea, spices and cotton". If everyone was that dumb there, they wouldn't have build sewer systems three thousands years ago, when people in Europe were living in caves!, We wouldn't be exporting half our systems(computer) engineering work to China and India.
Don;t forget our extensive whaling industry, and when the clubbed baby seals to death, now you sit on yoru high chair and talk smack, like a darn fool, What happened to all the Buffaloes, the white man killed that roam this great country? Just so that the natives main food source was gone.
Get a grip on reality and stop being an ignorant redneck!
That is gut wrenching to see the baby Elephant try to wake the mother up. People really are getting sicker and sicker.....
And to see the wet mark under the baby elephant's eye. Crying for his lost one.
I can't agree with you more. This is heartbreaking, and I s/b used to it a little bit more doing Animal Law. However, I doubt I will ever get to that point where seeing something like this doesn't make me cry. Best I can do is be tough in court for clients, human and animal, and look the monster in the eye as I fight for the victims.
The picture of the baby trying to wake its mother is so heartbreaking. I hope that it is placed in a sanctuary away from the affected area so it has a chance of survival.
The photo of the calf trying to wake its mother absolutely breaks my heart... I hope they were not poisoned. It is beyond my comprehension how anyone could do something so evil.
coco--the problem is, they were found in an area where wood is grown and harvested for profit, and elephants WILL damage the crop, so no doubt the natives see them as a threat to their livelihood.
Sadly, while I MIGHT have read about them somewhere in the past, I guess I'd forgotten that 'pygmy' elephants even exist, and that is part of the problem.
To destroy these beautiful creatures is heartbreaking. A large number of African Elephants from the same family were slaughtered recently. Wonder if there is a connection between the two mass killings of these innocent majestic beings.
Some orphan babies recognized that humans killed their family, they were terrified of people. Recently read that a terrified orphan African Elephant baby that rescuers tried to capture somehow escaped their grasp and found another female who adopted it. We wonder why they are weary of people, and become aggressive towards people. We as a global community should pay the locals a higher amount of money to protect these creatures from those who want to who profit from their slaughter.
Elephants do mourn their dead, when they come across one they will stand all day long by he body or the bones and touch the corpse/bones with their trunk. they can somehow smell or recognize that the deceased was another elephant they knew. (Saw a show on animal planet) This is Pygmy elephants but i imagine the species are pretty close.
I hope someone takes the 3 month old in and feeds it.
The animals are found “only on the northeast tip of the island of Borneo, and inhabit forests near water sources and grasslands. “
Prime real estate for greedy Corp. to develop so you can have your expensive teak furniture and romantic getaways not to mention the companies like Diamond Sugar and Dole Banana . So don't place the blame on people who have lived with these wonderful creatures for centuries. It should be easy to trace the poison !
Greg, then how exactly do you account for the constant poaching stories from these regions of the world in regards to Elephants & Ivory, Tigers & their pelts etc? Do you actually believe it is Billy Joe Jim Bob flying across the world to poach? Nope, it is the greedy bastards that "have lived with these wonderful creatures" and have cashed in their knowledge of the areas and creatures in their desire to sell out and get rich quick. Greed knows no nationality and apathy doesn't discriminate. Humans are to blame and time and time again we see that all we do is destroy for the sake of false prosperity and brief comfort but in the end we have ruined the planet for however many future generations we have left.
Sometimes the people of these regions are the biggest poachers, and don't have or don't follow any rules. While I agree with you about companies and overdevelopement. I think, tho, we are far more conscientious as a people about these things than many Asians and Africans who have lived with these wonderful creatures.
I didn't see anything about poaching in the article, but that doesn't mean it is not happening in Borneo.
A google search on "Borneo poaching" indicates most of the poaching there is for tigers and orangutans.
Either way, we need to fix the situational destruction of the Earth's biota, and now.
Gregory is right. The pygmy elephants are not the only victims in Borneo, and we're all to blame. Take a look at the ingredients on your food containers. Do you eat anything that contains palm oil? Chinese corporations are leveling forest in Borneo to create palm oil plantations, and any orangutans unlucky enough to wander into the plantations get hacked to death with machetes. If you buy food that contains palm oil (and there's a lot of it!), you're part of the problem. My son traveled to Borneo and brought back photos of these massive plantations. The destruction of the rainforest is occurring with terrifying speed.
So why don't we boycott the guilty countries's products who are responsible for such slaughter? Why don't we as individuals take a stand against such horrors? It is amazing how pennies from millions can add up to millions. We need to find a real legitimate charity that will actually pay for the preservation of these creatures long term, protecting them locally and in the legislature of these countries to which the threatened wildlife reside. Money moves people, let us contribute to charities that actually can make a difference in preserving and saving and protecting these innocent wildlife?!
Because our sick and sad society wants everything cheaper, faster with no heed to the consequences...
"give it to me NOW"...is costing us dearly..nothing gets fixed anymore, only tossed away...
I wish we could hire the poachers to protect the animals. They know the land and seem to have no problem getting out there to the animals. Tranq the elephants, give them each a radio collar, and assign an elephant to a former poacher. Every month the animal is still alive, let them have a nice salary, health care, good food, and let their family live in a nice house and their kids get to go to a decent school. They can only be in the program as long as their elephant is alive (they can get a new elephant and remain in the program if their elephant dies by getting sick or due to other natural causes like a flood or eaten by lions).
It's so sad, our wrold is so focused on greed and money we refuse to see the beauty in the world that was here when it first started. Anybody can make a difference, I'm just 13 and I believe I can, I believe everyone posting on this page can make a difference. "The time is always right to do what is right"
well people, right now is that time.
"The earth has a skin and that skin has many diseases, the major one being man".
IGNORANCE and OVERPOPULATION will soon end the 'human experiment'.
"The earth has a skin and that skin has many diseases, the major one being man".
IGNORANCE and OVERPOPULATION will soon end the 'human experiment'
Agree with you on that!
Each time I see and read an article such as this, my heart aches -- literally. Why are humans so demonically destructive? Why do we as a species have such high disregard for the other animals that inhabit this planet? The barbarians who committed these heinous acts should not be imprisoned; they should be executed. If you want to send a message, send a very loud message.
I could not agree more.
Rev Vincent--sorry, but the natives of Borneo killing elephants which threaten the HUMAN ability to survive is no different than the millions in OUR country (and others) who have babies they cannot afford to decently,feed, clothe, house, educate, and provide medical care for. Those people too are 'selfish' and expect everyone ELSE to sacrifice to pay for THEIR ability to breed at will, with no thought for the future.
At least the natives of Borneo have a slight excuse of being ignorant, of being able to see the consequences of their actions.
Here in the US, we PAY for women like the Octomom (who already HAD 5 children, several of whom had physical 'difficulties' {genetic}) to have EIGHT embryoes implanted. That's right, folks, she was on WELFARE, and WE paid for her 'in vitro'. How is SHE, and the doctor involved, and the whole SYSTEM of 'welfare' in this country ANY different from the natives in Borneo who do not see what the long term effects will be as a result of THEIR actions?
We are so far past from being able to turn things around it is unbelievable, What is wrong with mankind? There will be no end of the earth per se, we will just keep chipping away at everything at an ever increasing rate and that includes human life as well. We are a world of greed, disrespect, lack of morals and ethics and a mentality of entitlement enforced with violence, brutality and no responsibility.
I hope those responsible for the deaths of these elephants are caught and punished. If these elephants were killed by those wanting to profit from the industrial tree plantations let's hope they die poor and alone. Greed kills, usually the innocent
I remember some biblical reference to "man shall inherit the earth". Then, as I grew older, I began to suspect that either that was God's idea of a joke, or, there was a Master Plan that man would be the source of his own demise.
I thought it was, "the MEEK shall inherit the Earth."
Right on Ben. But the meek are being crushed by the loud. The meek will eventually win....though it's hard to see that currently.
Mankind cannot appreciate this gift of Life on Earth. As such, Our future lies in a dead world.
Another reason why I hate humans.
Hey...it's not all humans. Aren't you and your loved ones humans?
Its pretty sad how wild animals are eradicated either for food source, medicinal reasons or farming issues. Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese are the worst when it comes to this, they kill and eat anything. Vietnamese Rhinos for their horns, Chinese killing tigers for their parts and elephants for ivory,and the Japnese killing whales claiming research purposes. I agree with Rev Vincent, I'd rather have animals roaming the earth then bi-peds who want to kill everything in sight that it doesn't agree with. Eventually this planet will see a war unlike past wars, where humans will be extinct.
True........it's very digusting and disturbing.
Another reason why I hate humans. This is so sad!
I doubt it's accidental if ten of them died. Baby survived cause he drinks milk only at that age, and elephants are smarter than eating poisonous plants. Unfortunately I tend to believe some phuckers tried to protect their precious crops on the cheap.
whats going to become of the baby elephant?
the baby will hopefully end up in a protected sanctuary and ultimately once it is able to care for itself be introduced into a herd and hopefully accepted by the heard. Otherwise it will likely live it's life in a sanctuary being cared for by humans unless there is not one and it is sold to a zoo or circus someplace.
WTH is wrong with people ? Can't they just leave these beautiful creatures alone? Nothing is scared.
These stories make me so sad. It all comes back to greed and the almighty dollar. I believe mother nature will take care of "us" at some point and the animals will once again rule the earth. We treat our oceans like toilets and our earth like one big landfill. We treat each other pretty badly and the animals who inhabit this earth with us even worse. Very sad!
Another shocking event that means absolutely nothing to humans. Even slaughtering children in schools produces no action, just rhetoric.
idiotsruletheworld--What 'action' are you referring to? Opening more mental health facilities? FORCING people into them who have been 'outed' as "not normal" by someone?
Oh, nope, I bet you thing GUN control is the issue, right?
How do you explain CHICAGO then?
Gun laws ONLY prevent the LAW ABIDING citizens from getting guns. ANY criminal or sicko can get a gun if they want to badly enough.
Heck, lets out law all guns here, and then we will have given the Mexican gangs a NEW cash 'crop' to smuggle across our border!?!?!
That poor little baby Elephant. I like all animals but Elephants are one my favorate. Wish I could save them from things likes this.
no question there are too many two leggers we are adding another billion every 15 yrs can't sustain that something catastrophic is going to happen ecological disaster, pandemic, nuclear war. Something will check the runaway growth of the species and contrary to another poster saying it will be with a whimper I say painful.
There are numerous "news stories" right here in the US about cougars, bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, you-name-it, "intruding" in cities and subdivisions. How does anyone with half a brain come up with that? It's called urban sprawl! The animals have no place to go and their food sources have been destroyed. Back to Borneo... I shall try to reserve my opinion until the test results come out. I will say that I believe greed is a major threat to anything or anyone.
socpage--as long as you will recognize that it is JUST as greedy to expect OTHERS (via taxes) to pay for YOU to have things while you have no requirements re:earning them.
It is JUST as greedy to want stuff paid for by other people's money as it is for them to want to KEEP it.
MOmaid - I have no idea what you are referring to. I don't ask you or anyone else to pay for/support ANYthing I have. WTH are you smoking?
I used to care for Elephants when I was younger, I spent two summers and another two years feeding them cleaning them, playing with them and watching them enjoy life. I actually got to a point where I wanted to be at work more than at home because of them. It's been 30 years and not a day goes by that I don't reflect on my old friends and wonder why I decided getting a "Good" job and making money is more important than what made me happier than I have ever before or since been.
This story makes me believe there needs to be massive justice for these Elephants, their murderers deserve no less than the punishment they would get killing another human being. Elephants have more love, spirit, and happiness inherently and the bond between a mother and baby is a closer bond than any human mother I have seen, it is not just unconditional it is complete and never selfish, the mothers never ask for Me time.
So sad....I am assuming a living being is responsible....the image of the little one trying to wake his mother will stay with me forever.....I don't understand what this world is coming to anymore....